Writes Donald Trump, at Truth Social.
Harder than anybody has been hit in the history of the United States? Harder than Japan in WWII? Is this a threat to use nuclear weapons? A transparent bluff?
WaPo's mild response: "It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Trump allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year."
NYT, similarly mild: "It was not clear what tactic Mr. Trump might take that has not already been taken already by Israel.... [A]t the Republican National Convention in July, he said that he wanted the hostages returned and that captors 'will be paying a very big price.' His latest warning came after Hamas released a propaganda video showing the American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, 20, pleading with Mr. Trump to secure his release."
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166 comments:
I'm hoping that Brittney Griner gets swapped BACK to Russia or somewhere. Please throw all of the lunatics on The View too. Whoopie!
They have to be mild. They can’t do their usual hit job without implicitly supporting the terrorists.
A phone call to Bibi (assuming it hasn’t already happened) saying, “Knock yourself out. I’ve got your back.” will be the equivalent of a nuke if I understand Israel’s determination to end this.
Apologies for writing "Harder than Japan in WWIII?"
Fixed.
Seriously, not literally.
If Donald Trump nuked Gaza, twice even, that would be equal to ... not harder than ... anyone has ever been hit by the United States. He would have to nuke Gaza three times for it to be historic.
And I'm for that. Kill all terrorists. In the fastest, cheapest way possible.
"They can’t do their usual hit job without implicitly supporting the terrorists."
How did they implicitly support the terrorists by reacting mildly to Trump's strong scary threat?
It is Hamas that involved the US by taking American hostages.
20th century rule civilization learned then forgot in the 21st century: when you offer concessions to violent terrorists you incentivize more terrorism. That rule is not voided because the Washington PR firm the terrorists hired are your friends and colleagues…
I read the statement to mean what it says: they can’t do their usual hit job without looking like they are supporting terrorists. Hence the mild reaction. What did you miss?
Poor clueless WaPo: "threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza..."
Let me spell it out for you idiots, American hostages are being held, have been held for more than a year which makes it America's problem to deal with regardless of Israel's involvement. As a minor matter let me also correct the WaPo presumption that Israel is involved with an "ongoing campaign against Hamas" when Israel is simply trying to finish a war that Hamas started during a recognized "cease fire" term, which under international law is "self defense" writ large.
I believe WaPo does in fact implicitly support the terrorists based on that snippet provided, which I elucidate further below.
No one does hyperbole like Trump. He is the Grand Master. I might say he is the greater user of hyperbole in the history of the world.
But he uses it with purpose. He is always- ALWAYS- negotiating, moving a chess piece, manipulating, pushing, prodding.
We also know that the Biden team is working (finally) also on getting the hostages released before Trump assumes office. I suspect that Trump is also placing himself squarely in the middle of this so that, if something happens through the Biden team, Trump can take some- or all- of the credit. I'm fine either way. Just, someone, please work on getting these people released- if any of them are still alive.
One thing I'm fully enjoying is the movement of world leaders and the change in attitude of some world leaders since Trump won the election. Some are making a pilgrimage to Mara Lago. Others have simply softened their tone toward the US, or toward Trump. It's fun to watch. Its like the world has had a free playtime to do what they want for 4 years, and now the parents are coming home and they have to behave again.
Exactly. That Joe has pussyfooted around and hampered Israel and not taken 1/1000th the public action he took to get a stupid drug-addled WNBA player back from Russia is maddening. His insouciance is unbelievable! At least Gryner had counsel, and regular meals, and visits from international aid organizations. Biden abandoned the American hostages, which is just one more reason he was worse than Jimmy Carter in almost every way.
Hanging out with Don King, who is still aliveand counts Trump a friend and supported Trump's POTUS runs both times, perhaps taught Donald a thing or two.
Is Trump conducting foreign policy by threatening Hamas? Isn't that illegal?
Nobody is above the law.
Except Democrats, of course.
I couldn’t agree more. The Susan Rice cabal that has run the place must be purged, and the world has taken note that Trump has a toilet plunger in hand.
- Krumhorn
Qatar has been shielding the leadership of Hamas in Doha. Qatar has, of course, hired a Washington DC PR firm to represent their interests (as opposed to say, the interests of the United States, which may differ from that of Qatar.)
Who did they hire?
Pam Bondi
Trump's pick to head the DOJ. She is business partner with the guy who is married to CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Seems Trump hasn't learnt much either.
They have been warmed. The next move is up to them ... unless they do nothing. If they do nothing, the next move is up to President Trump.
Frankly, after four years of rot under the Biden administration, as well as expending uncounted ordnance in Ukraine, I wonder if our military is even capable of that kind of thing anymore.
The true instigators of the hipostage taking is Iran.
They didn’t do their usual hit job.
The harder is not a military reaction. Interesting that people read it that way. Hamas are terrorists and they will be hit hard in less formal, but equally dead fashion. Maybe some Goodfellas like demises.
I’m not pointing the finger at anybody, I say forcefully while waving my finger at somebody…
That never stopped them before.
Good point, but that said, Trump's strategy of putting the right military leaders in place and letting them do their jobs (without interference) worked against ISIS. I want to believe that same brand of leadership is still available within the ranks.
In total agreement.
The threat of action doesn’t need specifics! You don’t want to telegraph your strategy!
The bad guys have been warned. It would not surprise me if the wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East end in 1Q2025.
We have much bigger problems to worry about here in america.
Hamas terrorist loaded up dead hot young women into a pickup to take back home as war trophies. Does anyone believe Trump won't hunt the hostage takers down with American and IDF operatives or maybe perform Dronealingus on them?
One would think your ignorance of history would occasionally cause you to think before you spew, but it doesn't seem to ever work that way. The US did more than nuke Japan twice during WWII, they fire bombed Japanese cities to such a degree that Curtis LeMay had trouble finding two Japanese cities that were still sufficiently intact to be worth nuking. By August, 1945 the US had also obliterated the Imperial Japanese Navy, Army and Airforce and assembled an invasion armada of around one million troops in Japanese home waters should the nukes fail to get their attention.
I just learned today that the term for a post on TruthSocial is a "Truth"
"It was not immediately clear whether ..." We need to teach all grade school students to sus out journalism-rot: these stock phrases they use that have all the appearance of substance but actually don't mean anything at all except that the writer is trying to sound intelligent, typing away in their apartment while trying to meet a deadline.
I thought Trump was going to be POTUS again in January 2025, and not Israel. It is weird how much our politicians and power elite love this foreign country. Israel kills 40,000 civilians in Gaza, starves millions more, gets convicted of war crimes by ICC, and all our leaders can do is cry about a handful of Israeli hostages.
Given israel's behavior, and their murder of Gazans, and constant attempts to assassinate every leader of Hamas, why would anyone in Hamas release the hostages? Gee, Donald what are you going to to, give Israel the Bombs to destroy churches and mosques in Gaza, kill little kids, or greenlight them starving Gaza? Their territory is already a heap of rubble. Threats are meaningless.
And Bibi doesn't want the hostages back, he wants Gaza cleared of its native people's so Israel can have the land.
Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi buying up weapons for ISIS in Syria when he was killed. By simply letting him be killed, a lot of questions were avoided. It is almost impossible to be cynical enough to understand these people, which is what they count on. It is how they hide what they are doing in plain sight.
If you think that we are ruled by good people, then all efforts to see through their lies will look like "conspiracy theories" to you.
If you think that it is beyond their power to control the press and pick and choose who gets platformed, and think of how many ex CIA spooks have regular gigs on cable news.
Personally I am sick of all of the blood lust they whip up.
Trump has been a disappointment to me so far, but I only console myself with the thought that continuation of Biden's foreign policy with new branding was a sure path to catastrophe.
Hitting Japan with the bomb saved millions of Japanese lives when the Emperor told them to lay off the death cult and cooperate.
I believe that too. Netanyahu is busy ethnically cleansing Gaza. It's why he is so mad that Egypt won't open the gates and let him flush out the residents though terror and starvation.
Trump may be threatening Hamas leadership located well outside of Gaza.
Lesbian basketball star becomes media darling after being arrested, detained, and convicted in Russia on legit drug charges. Hamas kidnapped, tortured, and killed American-citizen hostages, with little media or Biden administration attention, much less genuine effort to get those Americans released from captivity.
Biden is a traitor, a foreign agent, probably most corrupt politician ever elected president, and yet media enabled and praised him, week after week, month after month, of terrible governance and obvious mental impairments. And now Biden has granted his coke-head bagman son a presidential pardon for all known and unknown crimes while American citizens continue to be held hostage in Gaza and elsewhere in the world, with little hope of aid from Biden administration.
May Biden be known as America's worst president ever.
I know a lot of propaganda gets created in wartime. I also know that we are backing ISIS in Syria with air support, and ISIS doesn't simply rape and kill, but takes women and makes the permanent sex slaves for their fighters. These are the "moderate rebels" in Syria who aren't even from Syria, they are just drawn like flies to a lawless territory where they can live out their fantasies.
"Those responsible will be hit harder...."
That's my take on this also. Israel can handle Gaza. The hostages are a perfect excuse for Trump to tighten the screws on Iran. Those responsible = Iran. He's threatening Iran, not Hamas.
One thing for sure, is that the leaders of Iran will be in the deepest bunkers they can find on Jan 21st.
Is Trump conducting foreign policy by threatening Hamas? Isn't that illegal?
Please, explain your theory.
The territory is lawless because we made it so. The US rules by divide and conquer and by setting fires all over the world and making countries hate each other. We learned it from the British.
Former Illinois resident said...
"Lesbian basketball star becomes media darling after being arrested, detained, and convicted in Russia on legit drug charges."
Considering the number of WNBA viewers and attendees pre-Caitlin Clark, I'm not sure "star" is the right word here.
The rest is spot on.
Ann Althouse said...
"Apologies for writing 'Harder than Japan in WWIII?'"
Was it over after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
They traded her for an arms dealer now equipping the houthis
@ Dixcus, re: 7 am
It's misleading to say Pam Bondi is in business with Christiane Amanpour's husband. They are both partners at a large lobbying firm, Ballard Partners, that has over 50 partners. The partner list is bi-partisan, as would be necessary to provide services to large clients who need to reach out to members of both parties in DC.
Your phrasing implies she has a personal financial relationship with James Rubin that requires keeping him happy or that allows him to wield some kind of influence over her. That's not the case.
Trump and Brian Ballard have known each other for 30 years and Trump called him when he first decided to run for President. Trump knows who he is dealing with. Ballard was a Florida Lobbyist who transitioned to DC because Trump hired him. Qatar doubtless hired Ballard to be their go between with Trump now that he'll be President again.
It would be really something if the hostages were released on January 20, 2025, the way Iran released the hostages on January 20, 1980.
For starters, how about the expulsion of Iran's UN delegation? They don't respect embassies, why should we? Nothing in the UN charter requires the US to tolerate the presence of the embassy of a power at war with the US within our borders. Storm the building, capture everyone and everything, trade them in exchange for the hostages.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"Let me spell it out for you idiots, American hostages are being held, have been held for more than a year which makes it America's problem to deal with regardless of Israel's involvement."
On a related note, do we still have Americans stranded in Afghanistan?
Trump's 2nd term cannot come soon enough.
There's a corollary to this rule, which is: When you eliminate the terrorists, you eliminate the chance they can do it again, and you send an unequivocal message to those not eliminated (yet).
Misleading is something the doompillers have to do. Pam Bondi has done more for President Trump than a wifebeater like Dixcus ever could, so there's a certain amount of professional resentment there.
Unfortunately (in this case), this is just another instance of Trump empty bluster.
The hostages will not be released, because Hamas thinks martyrdom is cool.
This thread reminds me of the "Kill! Kill! Kill!" part of the story in Alice's Restaurant. I think that the influence of Instapundit on the commentariat here is really starting to tell.
Trump's manner of speaking. This is just Trump being Trump. Biggest ever!
It's silly.
RCOCEAN II said...
I thought Trump was going to be POTUS again in January 2025, and not Israel. It is weird how much our politicians and power elite love this foreign country. Israel kills 40,000 civilians in Gaza, starves millions more, gets convicted of war crimes by ICC, and all our leaders can do is cry about a handful of Israeli hostages.
...
Oy. I forgot our resident Jew hater.
1) 40K? You mean Hamas - who like all Arabs in the Middle East lie - made up "40K." No rational person believes this is true.
2) I'm going to let you in on a shocking secret. Hamas took AMERICANS hostage. Is that OK? Do you hate Jews more than you love your countrymen? On Oct 8 if we had a President worth being called President he should have said "release the Americans. If you don't we are going to take out Iran's air defenses and then nuclear sites." Give Israel what they need to take care of it and they will. The next day "We are taking out all your oil facilities and ramping up all American oil." Tell the Israelis go to it. The next day take out their ports and the next day their electricity. After that turn off the electricity in Gaza and block communications and tell Israel go get them out.
You could always do a real siege and wait a few days after the water and food goes away to soften them before telling Israel do what needs to be done.
As always I continue to be shocked at how little you care about American lives. There are innocent Americans held hostage. Not like the basketball player who brought hashish into Russia.
Am I the only one that finds it odd that an American hostage, Eden Alexander, was put front and center on camera to relate his tearful message to his countrymen for Thanksgiving? I think it might be Hamas that has opened the negotiation. This is Trump's response. The propaganda terror-video move was..... probably suboptimal
And then, there are the hostages being held in the DC gulag because of Progressive lies and hoaxes.
And people need to stop talking about "Hamas holding American hostages". These people are dual citizens and are being held because they are Israeli. BTW, the whole concept of "Dual citizenship" is crazy to begin with. It should be gotten rid of, but our Congress is bribed to do nothing about it.
Besides most 'muricans don't care that millions of illegals pour in every years, or people come here to have babies, get the USA citizenship and go back to their countries. Nor do they care about Amnesty. They have zero patriotism, which is why the cries of "Fellow Americans are at risk" has zero impact with them.
You know the perdicaris affair
You're right. They're not Americans. They're Jews, right? They're not like us. They're going to marry our fine Aryan women and interbreed and pollute our blood. You're really a disgusting person. You know that right?
They are Americans who were taken hostages.
Its interesting how anyone criticizes Israel, no matter how justified, gets labeled a "Jew hater". Israel and its supporters don't give a Goddamn inch to anyone. Israel right or wrong. Support them 100 percent or you're their "enemy". Its why conversing with them is so boring.
Trump defaults to real economic tactics for war. I suspect he will go after the terror enablers in other countries like Qatar. Trump does not pretend. He knows who is really in charge in Gaza and it is not the Gazan people.
Maybe Trump will help turn the GAZA strip into a parking lot for the Israelis... and ship the refugees to Iran via armored columns.
You can criticize Israel. That doesn't make you a Jew hater. When you make traditionally antisemitic arguments (eg The Jews are really running the government) and it only seems to be The Jews that are secretly running things and your comments seem to line up very well with Der Sturmer ... well it's like that old saying. When everyone is telling you you're drunk, maybe it's time to sit down.
For those focused just on the terrorists themselves, has it not occurred to you that Trump could be referring to the aiders and abetters - people with something to lose and no interest in martyrdom. Hit them in the money belt and they will purge the terrorists from their sanctuaries.
In honor of RCOcean:
Two Jews are sitting on a bench in Nazi Germany. One of them is reading the local Yiddish newspaper. The other is reading Der Sturmer, a Nazi propaganda paper. The former says to the latter, “Why on earth would you read that antisemitic drek?” The other replies, “Well, when I read the local paper, we are a poor and battered people who suffer in ghettos, pogroms, and all manner of tragedies. But when I read Der Sturmer, we run the banks, the governments, the whole world ... !”
The taliban boko haram islamic resistance are the al thanis charity cases
Now since I was looking up people getting drunk...
An Irishman is in a pub in London one night when he hears a familiar accent.
He turns to the guy next to him and asks, "Are you Irish, then?"
The man gleefully answers, "That I am!"
The first man replies, "Well I'll be, let's have a whiskey! Where ya from?"
The man tells him, "Dublin."
The first man says, "Me too!, That calls for another drink, Bartender!"
The other guy asks, "Where in Dublin?"
He answers, "Blanchardstown."
The other feller answers, "Fuck Me! I went to school right there at St. Thomas!"
The Irishman replies, "So did I! That calls fer another drink!"
The man asks, "Who was yer teacher?"
He replies, "Miss O'Connor."
The Irishman replies, "Holy Mother of God, she taught me too! Bartender, another round if you please!"
At that point another man enters the pub and sits at the bar.
The bartender approaches him and he asks, "Evening Wayne, anything new going on tonight?"
The bartender says, "Nothing much, just the Murphy twins getting drunk again."
Israel has learned the hard way that giving an inch equals an 'inch lost', just about every single time, and an inch lost inevitably translates to 'lives lost'. They face implacable enemies that will only stop when they're martyred. It's odd to me that you never comment on the bloody-mindedness of Israel's enemies. It take a hateful, atavistic determination to brainwash young men to want to murder people and lie about it with profligacy. Have you ever faced a death cult before?
“No one does hyperbole like Trump.”
He’s politically incorrect on steroids, refreshingly and unabashedly.
Let me spell it out for the MSM readers....
Americans are being held hostage by an organization recognized as a terrorist organization (Hamas), inside territory claimed to be Palestinian and not Israel, accessible through other countries not named Israel, and well established to be an organization that operates as an arm of Iran and IRG.
De facto, Iran is holding Americans hostage in Gaza.
Perfect if Biden made some sort of deal to get the hostages released, now Trump will get the credit if not , hthen Trump can follow through with his threat and still get the credit
Trump's message was clearly aimed at Iran, yet neither the NYT nor WP seem to recognize this obvious fact.
Unless Trump manages to shame the Biden administration into doing something before his inauguration, should he negotiate for the release of the hostages, the Times and Post will report "Trump lied! Hamas not hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America!"
Trumps use of hyperbole is kind of like the Left’s overuse of the F word to show that they real really mean it.
"It was not clear what tactic Mr. Trump might take" Probably not building another pier to service Hamas. Regardless of Trump's actual actions, Biden's timidity in retrieving American citizens held hostage and holding Hamas accountable has been amazing.
1981, but yeah.
looks like WaPo expected D SOP for the hostage takers == pay the ransom also include tips
This feels like media battlefield prep. Statements like this might create a feeling of looming dread, or if not dread maybe worry in Hamas leaders and other folks in the region. This statement might also be used by uninvolved 3rd parties, who want to see any end to the hostilities, to try and pressure Hamas into releasing hostages and ending the conflict.
I wouldn't say clearly, but perhaps vaguely aimed at Iran. Frequently with Trump statements the vagueness seems part of the strategy. Keep them guessing as it were.
The upside of Hegseth is that he'll shake up the Pentagon and chuck out the deadwood and the DEI and trans nonsense. The downside is that he seems more in love with war than most combat veterans. He has been too much an ally of Bush, McCain, and Graham. The "neocons" are out of power, but a too strong enthusiasm for war is found among both "Wilsonian" liberal internationalists and "Jacksonian" nationalists.
The Mideast situation, though, is so complicated and so different from what both sides want us to think it is, that it may be possible for Trump to get the hostages back without going to war.
"Media darling" may also not be the right words. It was a big story, but those tattoos were hard to sell to Middle America.
Just because you might not be able to chew and walk at the same time doesnt mean everyone else has suh limitations.
These are American citizens, held as hostages by the democrats islamic supremacist allies. There are many different ways to increase the pressure while working on other problems.
by early August '45, the 20th Air Force was firebombing towns with populations as low as 50,000..
Because the ONLY large cities left, were the few that Washington forbid the 20th from hitting. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't being saved for the A-bombs; they would have been ashes LONG before
Fun, yet serious question: on what day were the largest number of humans killed by other humans (answer: March 10, 1945)
I think it will be more effective than saying "Don't".
Trump deals in hyperbole, but if he hadn't decimated the House majority, he could have rearmed Israel and sent troops to provide backup and logistic support. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak for the "developed" nations that have seen a resurgence of antisemitism and developed a tolerance for terrorists.
Trump is taking advantage of his reputation as an unpredictable wild card who might do anything at any time for any reason. I say “Go for it!”
I just think we’d be able to chew a lot more gum if america wasn’t going on these forever walks every single administration.
"explain your theory."
As John Kerry would tell you, it is a felony for an American citizen to conduct foreign policy. If Trump is conducting foreign policy as a private citizen, that would be a crime.
If.
If nobody is above the law, then they could prosecute Trump for this.
But of course, some people ARE above the law.
Like John Kerry.
Perhaps, but I'll bet the Ayatollahs got the message just as it was intended.
NO MORE FOREVER WARS! AMERICA FIRST!
As if Trump will get militarily involved in anything, much less hit Hamas harder than Israel has. Or maybe he thinks they will be frightened by tariffs.
Negotiations from a position of strength is not an alien concept. People pretending that it is shows once again that TDS is real.
The Vault Dweller said...
This feels like media battlefield prep. Statements like this might create a feeling of looming dread, or if not dread maybe worry in Hamas leaders and other folks in the region. This statement might also be used by uninvolved 3rd parties, who want to see any end to the hostilities, to try and pressure Hamas into releasing hostages and ending the conflict.
12/3/24, 9:48 AM
…
Makes me think of the meme of the bear with the eyes looking at you and then away. Probably what Hamas and Iran are doing now. Like they’re in The bunker with Hitler in the hitlerparody.
Rescuing 7 hostages is not a "forever war", utilizing means not yet revealed, in a confined geographic space which has already been mapped by the one of the finest intelligence gathering and urban warfare allies.
You might want to ake a deep breath and see what comes out of this befoee collossal "dooming".
jim sounds like a reputable source....LOL.
why was pier built in south end of Gaza and not north or middle?
where would have been more stable?
I am waiting to see what comes next, but sorry i don’t have much faith in this next administration either. Hopefully i’m wrong.
That’s not a bad idea.
So-called "Americans" held hostage by Hamas:
Alexander - born in Israel and soldier in the IDF
Itay Chen Z”L - Grew up israel. Anchor Baby
Sagui Dekel-Chen - Grew up and lived in Israel. Anchor Baby
Gadi Haggai Z”L - Served in the IDF. Lives in Israel - 73 y/o
Judi Weinstein Haggai Z”L - Moved to Israel in 1976
Omer Neutra Z”L - Serving in IDF. Born in USA, Lived in Israel since age 1
Keith Siegel - Moved to Israel in 1984.
I have no reason to Believe that RCOCEAN is a "Jew hater", but every reason to believe that he simply does not understand the Middle East.
On a different note, Trump will go after Iran regarding American hostages, not Hamas. Bibi is taking care of Hamas.
A gravel parking lot.
The original native people of Gaza were Philistines followed by Jews. It was part of Egypt until 1967.
Tariffs?
I have no reason to Believe that RCOCEAN is a "Jew hater"...
Neither do I, but it's not for lack of trying on his part.
Now list the forty five Americans Hamas killed at the music festival.
One difference. In 1981, Iran had LIVE hostages to release. 2025 ?????
Yes we do, Rocco. Good catch.
Hamas is a terrorist group, not a nation-state. Ditto Hezbollah. Ditto Islamic Jihad. Stop acting like beating terrorists at the war they start is wrong.
Yep.
Exactly a good retort the bad take above insinuating Trump will "continue the Biden foreign policy." This is a hard break. A much needed break.
Well they did just release a video of a live American. And I've been surprised so far, like when IDF rescued several living hostages.
How about 100% decoupling from the nest of vipers known as the UN?
That hostage has dual citizenship, Israel-US.
VA Lawyer Mark has proven himself every bit as dense as Dumb Lefty Mark.
In VA Lawyer Mark's case it appears to be completely driven by a lingering incandescent anger over the collapse of the DeSantis campaign (2 years long, globalist backed, $250M spent...not a single delegate won out of Iowa) , which VA Lawyer Mark strongly supported.
There is a small subset of DeSantis supporters that have basically become The Bulwark/The Dispatch democratical policy supporters.....as a means of demonstrating their NeverTrump bona fides.
There were 100 about American citizens taken on 10/7. I don't give a damn if they are dualies or straight up USA. It doesn't matter. Holding US citizenship is enough to pound our way into hell to bring them back. You're a sick fuck, Ocean. Do you burn your clothing if a Jew touches it?
You know there won't be a forever war, dork. Have you apologized for slandering me yet?
Sure Keith deserves to die, after all he moved to Israel. Right OC?
Some of the hostages are American citizens. I've got no particular love for Israelis, and consider the Jewish hegemony over our news media and other major institutions problematic, but I will say this. If OUR hostages (or their bodies) are not promptly surrendered by the Palestinians, I don't care if Israel spends a month carpet bombing the whole place and kills every last one of them.
Trump is focusing the issue. Not the unsolvable issue of Gaza and all the usual Middle East shit, but hostages. Full stop. It's smart and it's obvious. Address what can be addressed. What useless shitbags the Donks are.
That is my take also.
Russia will liberate Ukraine from Kiev. Hamas liberated Gaza from Fatah. Israel will liberate Gaza from Hamas, Lebanon from Hezbolla. Trump, in conjunction with Putin, will, once again, end Obama's ethnic Springs (e.g. second Iraq war), by way of Iran. Who will liberate Tibet? Millions of Muslim slaves in China proper? Black lives don't matter in Sudan.
Abortion! What is it good for? Absolutely something?
Elliott A. said...
'The original native people of Gaza were Philistines followed by Jews."
If you want to get pedantic about it, the original people were the Caananites.
With the Bronze Age collapse, the Caananites abandoned the lowland cities and fled to the Hill Country where the different groups intermingled and began to form the earliest recognizable Jewish identity.
Around 1175 BC, a group of sea peoples arrived from Greece and intermingled with the few remaining lowland Caananites, who were much smaller in number, and became the Phillistines.
Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead.
Amanpour is divorced from Rubin per Vanity Fair.
Most of the American hostages held by Hamas are dual citizens with strong American roots, doubt any are/were "anchor babies" born of illegal migrants.
Several are/were Evanston Illinois natives, born here in Illinois.
Now name the young man murdered by Hamas after nearly a year of captivity, born in Chicago-area. And the two women who were released by Hamas, both from Evanston Illinois.
Declare those who hold or control those who hold these hostages
hostis humani generis (enemies of humanity)
And dare the UN, the ICC, the Word Court or any loser international organization to give them succor to risk themselves being hostis humani generis (enemies of humanity)
Hunt these people to the ends of the earth and kill them if they cannot be removed to trial.
Mark - I didn’t consider trumps threats that we will send American troops into Gaza or Iran. I assumed what he meant was we will supply Israel with everything they need to do what needs to be done - bomb theirs is. Nuke sites and possibly oil wells and give them the green light to do everything they need in Iran and Gaza. Possibly put bounties on everyone in Hamas and tell the world you’ll pay them in whatever country they’re found under any circumstance. Gaza. Qatar. France Britain. Just deliver their heads no questions asked. Now that last part is a fantasy but would be amazing.
There was a Mel Gibson movie I think ransom. The bad guys kidnapped his kid. He had a big ransom to pay them but at some point it was clear the police would never get his kid alive. So he made an announcement on tv the ransom is now a bounty. Like ten million dollars for the heads of the kidnappers sherever they may be. No questions asked. I’d love to see a response like that. We just write a check and let every person in the world do the work and chop off the bad guys heads. I can dream!
will definitely become go to source for fact-checks!
But, but … what will all the new Trump voters in Michigan think?
Please, his name was Perdicaris, which is Greek and means an ancestor had something to do with quails (one perdix, two perdices): breeding them, or selling them, most likely both. He could theoretically be distantly related to Dan Quayle, but more likely they had ancestors who were in the same business in different countries.
As for 'Pedicaris', please don't omit the first R: 'pedicaris' is a Latin verb form that means "you are being buggered" (2nd person singular present indicative passive of pedicare, "to bugger"). Not the same thing at all, and we few, we happy few, who know Latin will be offended.
I see no reason to believe that Trump will exclude military tactics. One thing he could, and should, do. Last I heard, there is an Iranian 'mother ship' in Yemen, loaded with radar equipment, that actively helps the Houthis target military and civilian ships in the Red Sea, many of them American. Iran is thus committing acts of war against the US.
If I were Trump, I would let the Iranians know that if that ship is not back in Iranian waters, inside the 12-mile limit, it will sink at 12:01 pm on January 20th, with no further warning given.
I saw a very interesting video on the UTube. A plane dopped a bomb from 30,000 feet in the air. in a field i suppose at a bomb range. In the field was a traffic cone. The cone was the only thing in the field. The bomb landed on the traffic cone. You don't have to go to war with them you just have to take them out one at a time. I understand that pilot of the "Gensu" missile can place it in any seat of a car.
With the Bronze Age collapse, the Caananites abandoned the lowland cities and fled to the Hill Country where the different groups intermingled and began to form the earliest recognizable Jewish identity.
That's not the history that the Jews tell. According to the Jewish Bible, the Hebrews arrived in the hill country of (southern) Canaan around the same time as the Sea Peoples occupied the coast (and became Philistines, as you say)—around the 13th century B.C.).
Your precis also ignores the fact that (e.g.) the city-state of the Jebusites—a.k.a. Jerusalem—together with substantial surrounding territory, remained independent of the Hebrew federation of tribes until King David's reign, around the year 1000 B.C.
We made Syria lawless? Hahahaha! The Assads, father and son, have ruled Syria for the last 53 years, and have killed hundreds of thousands of their own citizens, with the help of their Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah allies. The Russians are right now bombing hospitals in Idlib and civilian neighborhoods in Aleppo. The Assads destroyed Syria quite thorougly, without any help from the US.
And we are not in fact "backing ISIS". As I have pointed out to 'Jaq'ass at least three times before, there are three large factions (and many subfactions) in Syria, not two. Two of them totally evil, and we support the third one, the non-evil one in the northeast of the country, which combines anti-Assad anti-ISIS Arabs (SDF), Kurds, and Yazidis. Here's a convenient map: link. We support the groups in the yellow area, plus the little blue area in the southeast. We do not support genocidal maniac Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies (pink), or the ISIS and ISIS-allied groups in the north (green and blue-green). Turkey particularly helps the groups in green, who are most interested in fighting the Kurds, while the groups in blue-green, who are advancing south from Aleppo, capturing masses of equipment from the Syrian army and their Russian allies, are in a semi-truce with the Kurds and other democratic Syrians, and seem to have grabbed their opportunity without consulting with the Turks first. As usual 'Jaq' knows less than nothing about what is happening.
Gaza was part of the Palestine Mandate after WW1. Gaza was administered by Egypt after the '48 war.
I think Iran will encourage Hamas to release the hostages. I also think Iran is likely to believe Trump's threats. In related news Qasem Soleimani, former head of the terrorist linked IRCG, could not be reached for comment.
How many Iranian civilians will have to die for the mad dreams of the mullahs? Rope, street lamp, some assembly required.
Yes on phone call.
"It was not clear what tactic Mr. Trump might take that has not already been taken already by Israel"
Well, I don't know, how about picking a Gaza village at random, bombing it into nothing, killing any rescues workers / journalists / UNRWA who try to go to the village, and then announcing that the same will happen tomorrow, and after that at an accelerated pace, until every single hostage is released.
And that another 10,000 Palestinians will be killed for every hostage who might have died after Trump took office.
Its far too complex an answer for your capabilities.
Just go back and donate another $20 to your girl kamala-la-la-la-la and jazzy spirit fingers Walz.
As Outlaw Ned said in True Grit, "I call that bold talk for a fat man." But Trump can do his John Wayne bit and see what happens.
It would be sufficient fur the people to turn against their captors. As long as they can be convinced that we will not pull another Biden in Afghanistan, or an Obama in Iraq, it may work. As for Iran, they may be sucking at Obama's teat, but Trump was able to sour their milk once to curb their voracious appetite and mitigate their progress.
But, but … what will all the new Trump voters in Michigan think?
They'll probably be so, so angry ... that they'll never vote for him again.
I don't know what Trump meant but I know what I'd be thinking. I'd be thinking: "he means me." If I was in Hamas, I'd be thinking about lots of JDAMS and lots of satellite data. If I was a Houthi or in Hezebollah,I'd be thinking of all the stored rockets near me which the satellites know about. If I was Iranian, I'd be picturing a cruise missile nose-cone coming in my window. "But maybe Trump didn't mean me," I'd think to myself.
Voice over - "Are you feeling lucky today?"
TBC
"For a one eyed fat man."
We could send in troops equipped with hollow point bullets and the hollows filled with bacon grease. I don’t think Hamas fighters (i.e., theocratic terrorists) would want to die with one of those in him. Spending eternity with Iblis instead of 72 houris might be an unhappy fate.
Rocco and Michael McNeil - I don't think most modern Jews believe in the historical truth of the Torah, or even later books such as the David stories. The very concept of objective history was foreign to the ancients of all cultures.
But there is an easier solution: don't we have a commenter called "King of the Sea People" or something like that? Maybe he can relate their oral history....
JSM
Big Mike, your bacon-bullet idea reminds me of this old joke:
Bin Laden winds up in the afterlife, where he is greeted by George Washington. He has barely enough time to wonder why they're both in the same place, when George kicks him square in the balls.
As Osama writhes around on the floor, Thomas Jefferson shows up and thrashes him with a walking stick.
Then Robert E Lee rocks up and starts slashing him with a cavalry saber.
All Osama can manage is "why....?"
To which Stonewall Jackson, brandishing his riding crop, replies, "Never mind why, you rascal! Worry about the 68 more Virginians behind me!"
JSM
Maybe he'll send Delta Force to go crash a few helicopters in the desert.
Again.
Telemetry has advanced, especially weapons telemetry. You can know precisely where something is, instantly, in 3-D space. In the oil & gas business, we steer to targets that are usually miles away, and land within a few feet, and know it. They kill blowout wells now by drilling into them from a safe distance, and intersecting the well where it's flowing from the formation.
So with weapons, the need for explosive delivery is becoming almost moot. You just drop a rocket precisely on their heads.
i don't think Trump is addressing Hamas, it's Iran and Qatar, he's telling them, you have a problem, I don't, but you do
@john mosby, Westerners normally translate "houri" as "virgin," but the Muslim concept of a houri is considerably more complex than that.
I had been thinking of the Moro Rebellion in the Southern Phillipines back at the start of the 20th Century. The Americans deliberately circulated stories about captured Moro rebels being executed by hanging (supposedly a disgusting death for a Muslim) while wrapped in a pig skin, and/or dead Moros being buried together with pig carcasses. The hanging actually happened (one such is documented photographically in Wikipedia) but there doesn't appear to be much in the way of solid evidence that being buried with pig carcasses or hanging while wrapped in pig skins ever actually took place, but the Moros seem to have believed it, which may have helped bring the rebellion to a successful (from the Americans' perspective) conclusion.
Big Mike: Ah yes, the Moro insurrection. Put down by Pershing! (I belonged to Pershing Rifles in college, and we had to memorize his life)
Of course, the Moro are still there and Black Jack is long gone.
I sometimes step back and think how weird it must have been for the Spanish to liberate their country from militarized Muslims (yes, yes, the civilizational achievements of Cordoba, yes, yes - work with me here), then go halfway around the world and find....militarized Muslims. Would be like Israeli astronauts going to some distant planet only to find little green National Socialists stiff-arm saluting each other.
JSM
Michael McNeil,
I am coming at the timeline from an archeological point of view, not a religious one.
While Judaism started among the Caananites while they lived mainly in the hill Country and the lowlands were largely depopulated, it should be pointed out that not all Caananites became Jews, even after they began to re-populate the lowlands. There were multiple tribes, of which the Jebusites were just one of the non-Jewish ones.
It took a few centuries for Judaism to become the dominant religion of the area. The violent and sudden conquest portrayed in the bible is not history.
I should add that there never was a United Kingdom, and the southern kingdom was just some additional Jews at the periphery of the northern kingdom, which was a dominant regional player at the time. At least until the destruction of Israel and Judah became flooded with refugees from the north and became the center of Judaism.
Maybe cut off the money.
why not borrow a khinjal from his best buddy Putin?
Gaza is easy enough to embargo. Get them hungry enough and the Gazans, who know who and where Hamas is, will be eager to lead the Israelis' to Hamas and their hostages. You just have to be willing to pay the price. Note, that price includes hungry children. Are YOU willing to pay that price?
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